United Nations, Apr 03: Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix has expressed doubt over whether Iraq possesses Weapons of Mass Destruction but said if it did, the best clues to finding them would come from interviews with scientists and other personnel once their fear of retribution was removed. "The USD 64 billion dollar question - that`s what the war is costing at the moment, I`m told - is: Are there any weapons of mass destruction?" Blix, executive chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), told UN radio in an interview today. Blix and his team of inspectors left Iraq just before the US-led invasion began. His report to the UN Security Council earlier that no Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) had been found in Iraq was greeted with skepticism by the US and Britain. In the interview, Blix pointed out that almost two weeks into the war, no WMDs have yet been found by the US-led coalition. But he added that they had an advantage in looking for banned weapons.


"There is one factor that makes it less difficult for the US to find them than it was for us. And that is that as the country becomes liberated from the secret police, people may not fear speaking," he said. Bureau Report